


Black Silk

by crucialkiller



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Blood and Violence, Childhood Friends, Church Sex, Dom/sub, F/M, Mystery, Possessive Behavior, Rating May Change, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Romance, Sex, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:35:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crucialkiller/pseuds/crucialkiller
Summary: A serpent tattoo and a cross tattoo. Both so very different, yet so very much alike. Strangers might just think they're simple marks of ink on flesh, yet the meaning to the leader of the Phantom Troupe finds it to be much more special than that. So very special, he believes the woman with the serpent tattoo is his one and only soulmate.





	1. A x Childs x Innocence

Mid-June, was typically the hottest part of the summer and it was when I had first met him, my soul partner, the man whom I was going to marry. The cicadas sang their lulling melody as I stared at the small child in front of me. Gray and round orbs, decorated with long black lashes blinked slowly and uninterestedly at me. You could tell, he was forced to be here but, neither of us didn't have much of a choice in that regard.

I feel my mother's hand on my shoulder behind me, and I hear the boy's parents speak, but all I can remember is the bottom half of their faces.

"Kuroro say hello." A feminine voice says as her lips curve up in a smile. The boy's lips are pulled down in a frown, and he stays silent deciding to go against his mother's wishes. The couple falls silent, as he does, and the woman just giggles to herself covering her mouth awkwardly. "I'm sorry he's just a bit shy..." He doesn't seem shy...

My parents also laugh behind me and my mother choices now to speak "That's alright. Our little one is also shy but once she gets to know you she will open right up to you."

"Does she have the mark?" the boy's father asks who has a deep and gruff voice.

"Yes. Of course, she does. Everyone in the village has one as long as they have the blood of our ancestors." my mother replies. "But do you plan on giving the mark to your son soon...?"

The man with the gruff voice replies to her question "Once he has been deemed as a worthy leader by the high priest he will bear the mark on his forehead. Only those worthy, can have the mark of the holy cross on their forehead."

The entire time his father speaks, the boy's eyes bore into mine, and I can't help but look away. His eyes are wide, eerie, and dark, yet so very beautiful at the same time. The boy isn't a jolly one but rather depressed looking. His skin is a pasty white and his black hair looks to be made of the finest silks, while his beautiful lips were pulled down in a frown.

My mother then laughs nervously, her hand leaving my shoulder and she says "Well we should leave them alone and let them get familiar with each other. Don't you agree? The more time they spend with each other the easier the marriage will become for them in the future."

"Agreed. Come dear." the boy's mother hums and begins to walk away, hooking the arm of the man by her side. My mother and father also follow suit, and I look at their backs almost feeling scared to be left alone with him, but I hold my tongue and don't call out to them.

Instead, I turn back around, and I wet my lips nervously and mutter "So your name is Kuroro…?"

He finally speaks once his parents have left his side "Yes."

"Well, my name is Kiku," I mutter and I look to the beautiful flowers surrounding us.

"Like the flower?" he asks solemnly, and I nod my head.

He then says, not moving from his spot only watching me "What a poor choice for a name. They represent grief and are used to be given to the dead...but you seem to be breathing person to me."

I am confused. What was he trying to say...?

I avert my eye and ask slowly, slightly weirded out by the boy "They also represent purity and truth... and only the white ones are used to be given to the dead. Um...do you like flowers?"

He is silent as I walk over to the field of the red spider lilies and I say "I love flowers. Any kind...even the poisonous and dangerous ones." I then kneel down to the flowers, watching their stems bend and sway in the breeze "These are Lycoris radiata. They're associated with final goodbyes and legend has it these flowers grow wherever people part ways for good."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him move towards me as if interested in what I was talking about and he also kneels down by me before plucking one from the ground, and he twirls it between his finger and thumb. "I know….But do you know in old writing, the red spider lily is said to guide the dead through, Samsara, the cycle of rebirth."

I shake my head in a 'no' also listening to his information as his eyes focus on the red flower before slipping to me. He then reaches over and does something unexpected, and he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear making my cheeks turn red. He then takes the flower and tucks it behind my ear and stands back up.

"Red is a suiting color on you…" he says, and I blink at him. 'Was he really a young boy?' I think staring up at him in awe. But then again I was a little girl and knew of things like this. Though, I thought I was the only one.

He then smirks slightly at me and says "And you shouldn't be so trusting and let strangers touch you... There was a spider dwelling in that flower."

My eyes widen, my blush fading and I quickly squeak as I feel prickly legs touch my skin on my cheek. I stand up tossing the flower out of my hair, and I quickly brush my cheek and my clothes off. The boy then starts to laugh evilly at my panic, and he says teasing "For someone who loves flowers you don't seem to like spiders."

I then glare at him and yell "Why would you do that?! I hate spiders! They're icky!"

He still laughs at me the corners of his eyes tearing up before giving me his back as he walks down the field "Well I happen to like them."

I follow behind him and ask "Why do you like them? They're creepy and gross."

He hums as I keep up with him and the boy replies "I don't know..Perhaps because the symbolic meaning of a spider is mystery, power, and growth. It is said If a spider comes to us, to be mindful of our choices." He then turns to look at me, a new found life in his eyes as he speaks "So perhaps that spider was warning me to stay away from you."

I begin to pout slightly, and I mutter, "Or it could have been meant for me…I'm the one who brought you to the flowers."

He smirks as he stares ahead again and he then says "I like you...At first, you looked to be a spoiled brat fed with a silver spoon all your life but the more you speak, the more you interest me."

"Well, you looked to be some unfriendly demon boy," I say, angry he thought I was some random spoiled brat.

"Demon?" he asks smirking, "Well I hope you wouldn't mind playing with some demon then?" He then stops and turns around and playfully taps my shoulder and smiles "You're it spoiled brat." And with that, he begins to run ahead while smiling over his shoulder and laughing.

I grin mischievously before taking a minute and running after him, and with that, began a long day of playing but if only I realized he would be soon leaving me or would be so called, 'pronounced dead' by the villagers and my soul partner...forever gone.


	2. Flowers x Poison

I stare up at the drifting clouds as I lean back in my chair, lounging. It was a rather boring day, so no customers and not even one slowing down to examine my many items scattered across my table covered with a velvet cloth. Even though the streets remained busy, clustered, and forever moving, all in a hurry to get to unknown destinations. 

Being a vendor on the street meant you got to look at a lot of interesting faces, whether they were foreigners or locals in the area that you see every so often. Especially in the ever so busy city of Yorknew where I decided to make shop while the auctions took place over the timespan of a week or maybe more. Then once the auctions were over, I would be moving again.

A sigh escapes my lips as I think, 'but my items probably don't provoke much interest compared to the other people's table here... Well, people that aren't intelligent enough to know how exactly rare my items were.... Just proves people don't know anything nowadays.' I sit up in my chair, propping my head up in my hand as my elbow hits the table, in boredom as I look at all the flowers, plants, herbs, and silks I was selling.

The silks being on a separate table than the plants. As I think back on the silks, they were just given to me on my last journey as a free gift. The man in one of the villages I was staying at temporarily, kept pushing silks my way telling me to keep them and possibly think about marrying him in the near future. Like hell I would, he was twice my age, and his teeth were decaying. I was probably the only woman that man had seen in the last twenty years and just proves how desperate he was.

I strum my fingers against my face. Well, I did take the gift because it was free but I was a woman who rarely wore silks. So now I was stuck with trying to get rid of them, but I doubt I would be able to by the time this little trip is over. Perhaps if I start giving the silks away for free to whoever buys one of the plants or flowers. Yes...That seems like a good idea.

I was no interesting hunter in the sense of being a blacklist hunter or beast hunter, I was a simple botanical hunter, a plant hunter. So that was what I was selling. Plants, flowers, and the such being my specialty. I traveled a lot for this sort of job and also took a fair share amount of research and logging. I knew very few people who also shared the same interest as me. Mostly women were botanical hunters and very few men were from what I have seen since starting the job.

All the plants on the table I had were unique and rare, gathered from different cities and sometimes countries. Some meant to heal wounds or make you last longer in bed while others were meant to harm or even possibly kill somebody. Though I made sure to tell uneducated people about how deadly some of these plants were. I don't want them to be mistaken by their beauty like most are. I look at the white and black flowers produced by the Slit plant in particular.

Although, its flowers were beautiful, underneath the soil where the roots grew was where the poison grew. The village I acquired the plant from was from a rural area. They grew in clusters, and every villager knew of its dangers and often got rid of them, therefore making them rare. Even the petals of the flowers cause irritation to the skin and would make someone break out into hives. I had to be careful when digging it up from the ground.

As I reminisce about the past of acquiring such plant, I failed to notice a customer had slowed his steps and finally stopped in his tracks. His gray and hollow eyes were examining everything with interest. He startles me because I had failed to notice him making me jump slightly. Usually, I was very aware of my surroundings even if I started daydreaming and it bothered me that I failed to notice his entire presence altogether.

I blink at him, questioning who this man was as I stare at his strange appearance and attire. His black hair is slicked back with gel revealing a cross that was tattooed to his forehead, and he wears a long trench coat with fur lining and a black and white shirt underneath. He is silent as he studies everything and he simply ignores me at first. Though my eyes zone in on the cross, getting reminded of the religious village where people often bore the mark on their forehead with confidence.

Was he from there...no no no. That village was wiped out a few years back for unknown reasons causing my own village to flee from its spot in fear they would be next. Luckily, there was someone with nen who could predict the future...and they were accurate. If we didn't have him in our village, we could have been the next village to be destroyed. Though, I found it wrong for the village people not to warn their clan ahead of time to prepare for the attack. They were probably still angry about that stupid arranged marriage that was supposed to cause an alliance between our two villages that got destroyed because of that boy's unforeseen death. I mean it wasn't his fault...he died.

Finally, I say something, feeling nervous for some reason "Are you looking for something in particular or...are you just browsing?"

His gray orbs that were studying everything lift from the table to look at me. The corner of his lips, curve ever so slightly. He then replies to me with honesty, not bothering to word it any differently "A poison. The best one you have. I was told that you sell them...by a companion of mine."

I am slightly taken aback, but he wasn't the only strange one I had ever since I set up shop a few days ago. I also had a small very unfriendly fellow buying a bunch of poisons and the like. I wonder if that had been the companion he spoke of. He even stole some extras which I didn't bother chasing after him. He too had that aura about him that told me if I did go after him, I would be killed. Just like this man in front of me...he was dangerous.

I straighten my back before smirking but that doesn't ease my nerves, something about his presence made my skin crawl. I reply "Then that would be this here." I tap the side of the Slit plant I was thinking about earlier. I then state trying to get extra money out of him cause I lost some earlier, "Though, it's going to cost you."

He only smiles slightly, and he says "Money isn't a problem...Though I will not bother to buy from somebody who is obviously trying to scam me." There is a glint in his eyes that tell me to not try any funny business or I will regret it. I feel a trickle of sweat run down my cheek, but I try and not let my nerves show.

I stand up from my chair, and I ask "You want just the poison correct? Not the flower..."

He shuts his eyes briefly, clearly relaxed but not all the way. He replies having his hands in his coat pocket "Correct."

I lean down, pulling open a case before taking out a small baggie with the label 'Slit.' I place it on the table in front of him, and I say "A tenth of a milligram will completely paralyze a whale. So be careful how you use it. Though I'm not going to bother to ask why you want it in the first place."

He stares down at the baggy with interest before his eyes drift back up towards me "Is that so...and its smart of you to not ask such questions." He then asks me with a hint of sarcasm "Though you do know it's illegal to be selling such things in the open? Poison like this is equivalent to selling drugs."

I sit back down in the metal seat, and I smirk slightly, though I don't bother to answer his earlier question. Whether or not I knew it was illegal to be selling this type of poison. The answer was, I did know, and I simply didn't care. No one so far has bothered to rat me out, well the ones who do know about the poisons. I didn't tell every pedestrian about the risks of certain plants, just that it causes irritation to the skin and then they wanted nothing to do with it.

"The total is 10,000 jenny," I state not trying to scam him or anything and being fair with my prices.

His eyes remain unwavering from mine, and he stares me down as if thinking something, his eyes chilling. Then finally a soft sigh escapes his lips, and he reaches into his pockets. I wonder what he was thinking just now...His eyes were cold. I purse my lips as I look at the man in front of, my nerves still on edge, and the brief silence felt even eerier.

Not long after he digs into his pockets he drops down a sack full of coins, I can tell by the clattering inside the bag. I smile dragging the sack towards me, and I say being chipper than ever "Pleasure doing business with you sir."

He stares me down, seemingly pissed he had to pay that much money though I was being nice here. I didn't try and up my normal prices. He then reaches out grabbing the poison and pocketing it, and before he gets a chance to leave and turn on his heel, I say "Wait, hold on."

He gives me another cold look as he stops and turns to look at me, craning his neck to do so, his full lips pulling down in a frown. He watches as I stand up from my chair and I grab a black colored silk from the table. I pick it up and hold it out towards him. "Here take this. I promised with every sale I made I would be giving one of these out for free. I'm sure you have a lover or somebody that would appreciate it."

He stares at it with uncertainty before taking it from my grasp and examining it. He is quiet before all he says is "I'm sure I can find a good use for it..." He grins slightly leaving me confused about his words, and that is when he takes his leave, blending in with the crowd. I blink at him before I release a sigh that was being held within me for a while.

'What a strange fellow' I think, but I don't get much time to myself as I see an old woman approach the table and I smile as I focus on the next customer.

...

...

Once night had fallen, I found myself packing up and heading towards my nearby hotel I had been staying at. It was nothing fancy, yet I find myself thoroughly enjoying my stay. Between the breakfasts cooked every morning at 6am-9am in the lobby, the vending machines filled with munchy snacks and sugary drinks, and not to mention the softest and most comfortable beds in the world.

Compared to the rural areas I have been visiting, going to each village to the next, the city and its beds felt amazing. Even I myself grew up in a village and even though I find it boring I still did most of my work in them, that and mountains and forests. I grew up in a small village...a village where everybody knew everybody and if you left you be forever outcasted. That was a given.

So I guess when I left years ago to become a hunter I was forever outcasted by then, I can only imagine what kind of names they called me because I left them but there was nothing there for me anymore. My village would never accept me back in it, that was a fact. Though I normally try and not think about things like that. It was bad for my brain and mental health. I had moved on long ago from that. At least I wasn't stuck in some crappy village.

As I make my way through the city streets, holding on carefully to the tray of assorted plants and flowers I hear footsteps behind me. They were light and barely audible, as if not wanting to be heard. I feel my fingers curling underneath the tray in my arms, and I wonder if it was money they wanted. I glance towards my purse with the sack full of coins that man given me earlier today and what little money that old woman had given me when she bought a few assorted roses.

Obviously, I wouldn't be giving up my money or anything on me. I frown, my eyes narrowing as the footsteps grow closer. Then I turn around to face them, my face growing stern. Once I turn, the figures immediately hide in different places, one behind a dumpster, one in an alley, and the other quickly bounced themselves on top of one of the roofs. Their movements were obviously quick enough for my eyes to barely be following them.

I glare, but I don't say anything, there intent obviously malicious if they forced themselves to hide once I turned around. I then say bravely "What do you want?" Of course, no answer comes from the three of them, and when my eyes dart to the three locations, I find myself backing up.

'Should I make a run for it? Or fight them?' I think briefly in my head but when I step back my back collides into a hard chest and immediately that triggers the fight in me. I drop what is in my hand, some of the flower pots breaking upon hitting the pavement and I go to swing at the person behind me as I quickly turn around. Instantly they catch my forearm, having no problem stopping the movement and they apply slight pressure.

'Should I use my nen?' I think next and as I stare into a pair of familiar gray orbs that appear to not have any life or emotion to them. My face crinkles and immediately he says ignoring the fact I almost hit him "So. We meet again, Miss."

"What do you want?" I bark out quickly knowing it was him and his buddies who planned on attacking me, probably from the start. He probably wanted his money back or something. I knew he was strange when I first met him a couple hours ago, now I'm getting dragged into his business by force.

He smirks slightly "I want nothing in particular. Though, I'm interested in one thing that I'm hoping you can explain to me." He reaches out towards me with his free hand, and immediately I flare my ren getting ready to attack, deciding I had no other choice, but as quickly as I do I hear footsteps behind me.

A mellow sounding voice mutters from behind me, "Boss. Shouldn't we just kill her?"

Another one also speaks this time a woman with an elegant sounding voice "Yes. You said if she instigates an attack that we should-"

The man they called their boss then orders, his eyes lifting towards them "Enough. We will not kill her. Plans have changed.." With that order, they quiet down, and he grabs the front of my shirt, his eyes lowering down to me again. I glare at him not knowing what he wanted to know and I'm left in a dilemma if I should really start a fight. I couldn't take the four of them... all at once.

He pulls the front of my shirt down, exposing my collarbone and his eyes fall on the skin exposed to him. He asks, not bothered by my aura in the slightest "This Tattoo. Where did you get it?"

I decide honesty is my best bet here and I reply my eyes glancing downs the s-shaped birthmark, resembling a snake "My village... I was born with it really. It's more like a birthmark rather than a tattoo."

His eyes light up with interest, and he mutters to himself in thought "Your village? And where is it located now?"

I get silent. Pursing my lips as I stare at him. Not going to give up such answers so easily. I mean who would? He's a sketchy guy, and even though my village has its fair share amount of assholes in it, I still didn't want my parents to die if that was his intentions. Since it might be possible he was a survivor of that religious village and wanted to take revenge because we had known the truth and didn't warn any of them ahead of time.

He only signs to this "You're going to be stubborn about this. Aren't you?" My silence answers him, and he lets me go, and he states "Then you leave me no other choice." He begins to walk away, revealing a saint peter's cross on the back of his trench coat.

He then orders, "Capture her and bring her back to the base." With that I decide to fight, I quickly make my moves. I drop to the ground and slam my hands on the pavement, and with the help of my Hatsu, the pavement cracks all the way to the three attackers. They are thrown off balance at first causing their leader to stop in his tracks.

With the now cracked pavement, I grin. And vines wrap around their legs. The two men sneer, while the woman has a look of surprise. With their movements temporarily stopped I make a run for it. Darting down an alley. My movements are quick, but it seems their leader's movements were too.

I hear him running behind me, his movements nearly as fast as mine. When I turn to look behind me, he is no longer there, and my heart drops. That means if he isn't' there that means he's...I quickly whip my head around to stare in front of me and when I do I crash into him terribly.

My nose smashes against his chest, making the blood run down my face but he seems to barely move when I crash into him. My purse slips down my arm before hitting the ground as I go to hold on to my nose but he doesn't take long to restrain me. He immediately takes advantage of my dizzied state, and he pushes me up against an alley wall, holding my arms tightly behind my back.

Not long after, I feel a soft silk-like material brushing against my skin, and he says while binding my wrists "I told you I would find a purpose for this..." As the blood from my nose runs down my face, it also gets into my mouth, and I spit the blood on to one of his boots, turning my head to do so.

He doesn't seem bothered by it, his face unfazed. He only grabs my shoulder and whispers into my ear, his tone sending shivers down my spine "You're my prisoner now. So choose your actions wisely...My patience can be very limited." With the subtle threat, he pushes me forward, and his three followers catch up to us eventually breaking free of the vines I placed around their ankles.

That was a powerful nen binding ability, I can't believe they just broke out of it in less than three minutes. As my confidence downs, all this man orders is "Bring her back to the base. Make sure she doesn't escape. I have questions for her that I want to hear myself. No one is to touch her but me. Are we clear?"

"Yes Dancho." they say not denying his orders, and one of them grabs me, pushing me towards wherever this 'base' was. Leaving me thinking, that I'd rather be working in one of the villages than the city right about now. It was a terrible mistake coming to Yorknew. Though in the end, it might be worth it...


	3. Prisoner x Spider

I'm left in a dark room, with nothing but candlelights to keep me company. The room has no windows, and all there is a wooden brown door with somebody probably outside of it, the person most likely being the one with the sword at his seemed to be a highly skilled nen user and had instantly obeyed orders once his boss told him to guard the door. He had already warned me if I had gone up to the door he wouldn't hold himself back withdrawing his sword, and that I would be dead in a matter of seconds.

But I can't really move or open the door anyway. My wrists are still bound by the silk material, and every time I try and wiggle my wrists to break free, it only gets tighter, the same can be said when I try and use my nen. It seemed to be some sort of weird nen ability of his.

Before one of the men took me to the base, a book had appeared in that man's right hand, and he pushed his nen onto the silk that bound my wrists. Obviously binding me for good unless he was the one to take off the binds.

I'm left alone with my thoughts, of what he could possibly want to know about the stupid birthmark and my village. Did he hold some sort of grudge to someone specific? I 'tsk' to myself. Of course, it was my stupid village to put me in this type of mess. I kick a rock at my feet, and it bounces across the floor. Its been at least an hour since his troupe members threw me into this room and I haven't heard a peep since.

All I could do was wait, with curiosity and fear. Not knowing why that man took an interest in me. How did he even see the tattoo? Was it possible he was looking at my chest when I had bent down? Then if that is the case he is some perv hoping to get a shot of cleavage. Though it was hard to picture. I doubt he would have been looking…He didn't seem like that type of man, but he was a man nonetheless.

I stare at one of the candle's tiny flames, and how it was flickering back and forth and casting a shadow on the cement ground. I then hear a noise outside the door, and I fix my slouching posture, to sit up against the wall as I stare eagerly towards the door waiting for it to open.

To my surprise it does, it creaking open to reveal, the man with the cross on his forehead. I stare at him not knowing what to expect and he all he says is "I'm hoping you can be a bit corporative with me this time or..."

I cut him off spitting back, my wrists still wiggling but the fabric only grows tighter around my wrist, like the nen itself was alive "Or what? Are you going to kill me or something...? Torture me to get the information you want out of me?"

He only smirks as he shuts the door behind him, and he walks towards me, his steps quiet "I could do those things but killing you would be a waste, and I'm not one for torture…usually...Though you could say a friend of mine, would be more than delighted to help me out with that task."

I swallow, and he kneels down in front of me, and I stiffen. The orange and yellow candlelight were casting light on his face though it is continuously flickering back and forth, the light being unsteady. He then says his eyes void of any emotion "What I ask is simple. Your birthmark, your village, and your name. I want to know those things. Tell me, and I will set you free."

My eyes narrow at him. He was most likely lying. I know how stuff like this works. I open my mouth, and I reply with only one of his questions "My name is Kiku."

His face shows no emotion, but I notice his finger twitches that set on his knee. "I see." he mutters to himself and silence follows shortly after before he states "My name is Chrollo, though a lot of the people you see here will address me as boss."

'Chrollo...That name was familiar but not so familiar at the same time.' I think to myself. I stare at his forehead, and the purple cross before I ask "You were from that village...Weren't you? Is that your reason for pursuing me. To get revenge or some other scheme like that?"

At this, he dryly chuckles, his lips curving up in a smirk. He then asks "And why would I want revenge on your village Miss. Kiku?"

I grow quiet before I mutter in a reply "Because we didn't warn your village that it was going to burn down all those years ago...when we obviously could have."

"I see... so that is your reasoning." He hums out almost bored as his eyes glance down towards the burning white stick, the wax of the candles melting on the floor below. He then asks "I had no idea someone knew we were going to attack. How did you know? A nen ability?"

Of great. Did I seriously just leak something he didn't know of? I want to facepalm but I can't thanks to my tied up hands behind my back. And did he just say...we?

"Yes…" I reply as I swallow. If I lie now, he might cause me more hell than I already endured.

He is quiet again, and he seems to be in deep thought, "Hm, would you as kind to tell me that person's name then…."

"No," I reply prominently, my chest tightening in fear he now wanted to kill that person or go after them.

His eyes travel back to me from the candle, and he hums "Still going to be stubborn I see. Well, at least tell me this Miss Kiku, where is your village located? I won't ask again. And tell me more about your birthmark."

Again I don't want to tell him where my village is located, so I start with my birthmark first, "I told you, I was born with it. The serpent tattoo represents the snake disguised as the devil, and even though my village was not evil, it was told the people with the cross tattoos soothed us and kept us in control. So that's why every 100 years, each village picked a boy and a girl to marry each other or else disaster would fall for both the villages and its people."

He seems to take in all my words, his eyes unwavering before he chuckles lowly again, "Yes, good. I'm glad you're actually her and not some fraud framing to be her."

"Excuse me?" I question him, confused by his words.

His gray orbs stare more into my own set of eyes, and he asks "You don't remember me Kiku?"

"Ah, No. I don't remember you, but I know of your village…Have we met before?"

He then says with all due seriousness, "We were the ones that were supposed to marry. My real name is Kuroro."

My eyes widen, and he then asks "Do you remember me now Miss Kiku...? I remember you." His voice is a little eerie, and I can't help but find it a little emotionless as he says this.

"No. That isn't possible….That boy died who I was supposed to be wedded to." I say absolutely weirded out he knew of that name, and of that boy who I faintly recall meeting with and playing with.

"A lot of things aren't as they seem, Miss Kiku." he says, then he hums "But I supposed you could say I died in a way….but that is for another time to explain and another day. Now is not the time for that."

'Confusing again...What did he mean?' I think

"Now...where is your village?" he asks again, this time extremely cold sounding and demanding. If I didn't answer what would happen? Should I really test his limits?

I stare into his orbs, and I purse my lips tightly going back to being silent. His eyes grow cold and scary looking, and I can't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

"Not going to talk..?" he questions me as he stands up, that same eerie look from earlier washing over him. "Is this how it is going to be Miss Kiku? Well, don't forget you choose this, you could have been granted freedom."

He then says while looking down at me and he sighs, "I guess your stay here will be longer than expected. I will see you again tomorrow morning."

He goes to turn around, and I panic slightly and say which stops him, "Wait, what happens if I have to go pee or use the bathroom...? Will that man outside take me out of this room. "

He keeps his back turned to me, and he says "Well, you should have thought about that earlier. If you soil yourself overnight, you can bathe in the stream near here." He grins ever so slightly and snottily, and I grind my teeth as a blush overtakes my cheeks. He was ridiculing me on purpose.

With that, he exits the room and closes and locks up the room, leaving me alone with an ever so quickly burning candle.

…

…

The more time that passed, the more I got bored, and the more I feel a pressure in between my legs and lower abdomen, the feeling was having to pee. I glare at the door as I lay on my side on the floor with my arms still bound behind me back.

I sigh heavily as I keep pressing my legs together. That fucker really and probably wasn't coming until morning. I bite at my lip and sit myself up using just my back strength. There had to be a way out of this bind he put his nen into.

I have been messing with it for the last couple of hours, and no matter what it just kept getting tighter and tighter, until eventually, the pressure started to cut my circulation off. It was really painful now. Ok, Kiku. Think. There had to be a way out of this. I wasn't an enhancer, but during these few moments, I wish I was.

I was a conjurer. My nen ability revolving around different plants and conjuring them. Perhaps there was a plant I could conjure up to cut the bind, and I'm just not thinking of it because I'm in a state of pure panic and dismay. The binds at this point, couldn't get any tighter and that was a fact.

Come on Kiku. Come on think. I keep on lecturing myself going through all the plants and not thinking of one that could cut the bind, and free my hands. Even so could the type of plant I conjure if I do think of one also cut thru a nen barrier?

I grind my teeth, and the pressure grows of having to pee. Ok, enough was enough. I needed to get out of these binds, NOW.

After a couple more minutes of thinking, I finally think of the plant I was looking for. The plant name is Dogrun, and I remember studying the flower with other plant hunters such as myself while in a snowy rural village when I first became a hunter.

The Dogrun is an uncommon, small plant and can be found only in some snowy regions. It blooms once a year, for 2 months.

It has tiny, circular leaves, which are usually an abnormal light blue. It also grows decent sized flowers, which can be light silver.

These plants grow alone, but within a decent distance from each other, but it's challenging to control and maintain their growth.

They can be used as an energizer when eaten if you're quick with your hands if not its flowers produce something sharp that comes from the stigma of the flower and it is known to be sharp enough to cut fingers off.

Us plant hunters have yet to fully understand the odd plant, so that's why I don't want to summon the plant while in full bloom, but it is all I have to rely on.

Why didn't I think of it earlier? I lecture myself in my head. Hopefully, this confusing shitty plant will be able to cut thru that man's nen. I then lean more towards the ground and place my hands on the concrete and think of conjuring the plant above the concrete, once I infuse my nen into the ground, I hear the crack and splintering of the concrete as the plant suddenly appears.

I smirk slightly and turn around seeing the Dogrun in front of me in full bloom. Ah, this would be perfect. I then slowly near it, sweat running down my cheek as my only light comes from the candles that were almost nonexistent at this point.

My bound hands loom above the flower, and my heart accelerates. One wrong move and this flower could cut my wrists and make me bleed out. Was this really a smart move on my part? I would rather be better off pissing my pants rather than accidentally cutting my wrist.

I gulp noticeably and loudly, and as soon as my hands loom close enough to the flower, it produces a sharp looking blade and ejects it up about 6 inches in the air. I flinch and gasp as the blade ends up cutting into my flesh but frees me of the bind.

I then quickly retract away from the plant, blood running down both my arms and I inspect my arms seeing the blade cut some of my skin and flesh off because of how closely the bind had pushed both my arms together. My hands shake, as more blood slips down my arms and onto the ground in large splats.

Well, at least that plant is good for something and can cut through even the strongest nen, I would have to keep that in mind, and write that down in my journal when I have a chance.

I suck up the pain, and I notice the blade retreats back into the stigma of the flower, and I quickly pull down my pants and relieve myself while in the corner of the room, and pray no one opens the door.

Much to my luck, no one opens the door, and I then summon a normal looking plant with my shaky and blood covered hands and arms, and I rip a large leaf from it to clean myself. After doing so, I step away from the spot I peed in and am highly embarrassed about, so I rip the plant up from the ground and throw it on top of the spot in an attempt at covering the damp spot on the concrete.

I hate to look at my hands, and I try and think of a plant where I can use to make the bleeding stop and heal me. But the only problem was, I was running low on my nen. That powerful binding spell I did earlier tonight really did a number on me.

I attempt to conjure another plant in order to help heal me but nothing spouts up from the ground, and I growl slightly. Dammit...I knew it. I can't conjure anything more. I then look towards the door and wonder if that man was still guarding the door. The man named Nobu or something like that.

He warned me already tonight, he would cut me down if I drew close to the door, but should I take the risk and see if he was still there? He could of very well became distracted and if I stay here who knows what will happen to me or my village. It might become a tragedy either way, but I guess if I die now, my village would be safe.

So I take my chances, quietly stepping towards the door, some of my blood still dripping on the floor and I grab the door with my injured hand, I feel slight pain every time I move it, but the pain was somewhat bearable.

I creak open the door trying to hide how scared I was of having my head cut off, but when I open it I don't get a warning or anything, and the more I open the old wooden door there is no one at all guarding the door. I start to feel highly excited and relieved, and I step out from the room I had been kept a prisoner for several hours.

'I have to escape now.' I think highly determined to escape from this building I currently was in.

As I quietly step around, my ears alert, I hear nobody or feel no one's nen nearby, but that could mean shit. This was the Phantom Troupe we were talking about, I heard rumors from other hunters outside my field of work about how dangerous they were and to stay away from anybody with a visible spider tattoo at all costs unless you were hunting them for their bounty. But even those type of hunters usually got killed.

The more I have time to think the more precautions I take. I step around the seemingly empty and quiet building, and I get to a window, with broken glass. I look down and note that I am on the second floor and nobody seems to be outside either, the skies are still dark meaning the sun had yet to rise. A slight breeze pushes my now messy hair away from my face as it travels throughout the building because of the broken window.

I then draw away from the window, and I step down the stairs listening and feeling for anything that was odd. Shouldn't somebody be around and guarding my door? Did no one care about their boss's orders? As I reach the first floor, there is still nothing, and I zone it on the exit door.

I then decide to quicken my steps, and with a couple swift movements, I push open the exit door and start to sprint away from the building. My heart accelerates, I'm filled with adrenaline and soon my sprinting turns into a full-blown run and all I can think in my head as I grow further and further away, 'I can't believe I escaped from the Phantom Troupe!' and with that, my plan succeeded and I had successfully made it out alive...for now.

….

….

(Third Pov, Chrollo)

The morning sun rises in the sky and when the leader of the Phantom Troupe returns to the now empty room and stares down at the single flower that he recognizes as the Dogrun plant after fully studying and expecting it. He also notices and sees splats of dried blood all throughout the room and hallway, and it wasn't hard to figure out what she had done to get free from her binds.

He suddenly feels extreme anger in himself, and the troupe members that had so lazily fallen asleep downstairs after huddling together in a small group. He curls his fingers into his palm so badly his dull fingernails cut into his palm causing blood to surface and drip on the floor, mixing with the girl's own dried blood on the floor.

He then turns around and leaves the room his eyes suddenly full of emotion and sudden rage over her escaping him and the rest of the spiders. Rage was very unlike him, but he knew what he was doing to do... He was going to find Kiku without a doubt, but should she be punished for her wrongdoings?

A sudden smirk overtakes his face, slight, but there as he stares ahead outside the broken window, he could smell the slight scent of flowers she carried on her. She wasn't too far away if her scent lingered on the air. The punishment was something he would have to think about and something for him to decide once finding her. and with that, and for a long time in his life, he feels excitement. He would have fun hunting and tracking her down.


End file.
